A hidden defect or a vice caché is something which renders a product or good unfit purpose. The purchaser benefits from statutory protection provided that the purchaser was not in a position to become aware of the defect at the time of the purchase. French law makes a distinction between

specialist and non-specialist purchasers in regard to the product in question. If the court finds that there is a hidden defect, the contract of sale can be rescinded or the price reduced.

In the case of a sale at the home of consumer, the consumer has a period of seven days in which to withdraw from the sale.

A supplier can set up a website for online sales without it constituting a breach of exclusive distribution rights in the physical outlets. At the same time, the supplier cannot prohibit the outlets from setting up their own websites; the supplier can impose certain quality standards however.

Care should be taken that sales on the Internet do not infringe distribution networks or the ownership of trademarks.

Electronic documents can be produced as evidence before the French courts. The French Civil Code requires that the sender should be clearly identifiable and that the integral nature of the document should be guaranteed.

There is an obligation of traders to provide the general terms and conditions of sale to their customers. The terms and conditions should include the conditions of sale, the unit price lists, reductions in prices and the payment terms. For international sales it would be important to include a clause about the governing law. It is advisable to include the general terms and conditions on invoices and orders in order to provide evidence that the purchaser was aware thereof.

It is not necessary to apply the same general terms and conditions of sale to all customers. However it is necessary to apply the same terms and conditions to a given category of customer

Under the French Commercial Code a business has basic accounting requirements such as recording accounting entries on a chronological basis, a valuation of the assets at least every 12 months and preparation of the annual accounts at the end of the financial year.

The Commercial Code also prescribes accounting registers and the recording of invoices. Accounting information should be kept for 10 years.

Invoices should be dated and have an individual number. They must include the name of the parties and their address, the date of the sale or the provision of services, the quantity, the type of service or article, the net unit price, the date at which payment should occur and any possible price reductions. Invoices should be drawn up in the French language.

The legal requirements concerning commercial documents will depend on whether there is an individual trader or a commercial company. It is important to ensure that invoices, orders, price-lists, advertising material and all commercial correspondence should include the single identification number as well as a place of registration. Specific information should also appear in the case of regulated activities. The same information should appear Internet sites